Lee Noga Interview
2002-11-02 18:41:25
Luke: "What are the major changes in the adult internet over the past year?"

Lee: "The showmanship, dick-swinging, is coming to a halt. People are right-sizing and down-sizing. We've become a full-fledged business with the structure and expectations. It's no longer a big party. There's no longer as much squandering of money. The sponsors are conservative. The Internext show in August gives everyone the same sized booths, which tells you that they had a hard time selling the show.

"We're not as noisy and ostentatious. The egos are gone. It's a tough life. Consolidation and acquisitions and alliances. Little programs are folding into mid-size ones and mid-size ones are trying to enter the big leagues. And they are picking up smaller programs for a song. Unless you have a wingspan, you can't sustain bumps in the road anymore.

"This is the shake-out we predicted back in 1998. We've had the 9/11 and Afghanistan distraction. The US Attorney General John Ashcroft has been educated state's attorneys about internet porn and how to prosecute it.

"The long-term players are growing. Cybererotica went from fewer than ten sites to over 150 sites. People are either busting or blowing up and expanding. Every dime is scrutinized. Sponsors are not quick to sponsor resource sites. They're slower to go to these island vacations.

"You used to have webmasters dropping $20,000 a night gambling. You don't see that anymore. One player now budgets himself $300 a night, when he used to drop $20k a night."

Luke: "What's your role with Cybererotica?"

Lee: "Whatever [Ron Levi aka Fantasyman] needs me to do, I do. I monitor the online message boards. I make myself available. CE has such a huge operation. He's opening up new niches. He's blowing up his programs, introducing new wrinkles. His growth rate is astounding.

"Paying per-active signup protects sponsors from fraudulent webmasters. It takes away the motivation to abuse.

"The latest thing to irk people is to use underage kids, fully clothed, to get people to join a porn site. And there's no law against it. It's horrible thing to do. They're using ten-year old to entice. People will do desperate things in desperate times.

"You have small webmasters out there who, two years ago, were making $8000 a month in profits from their sites and now they can barely make their server bills. It's tough to recuit webmasters. Average cost per new webmaster is about $250.

"Epoch was at the big island gathering in Kurocel and Epoch didn't have have a doom and gloom attitude about the new VISA regulations. But the new regs could be enough to shut down small sites."

Luke: "Epoch was having troubles paying 18 months ago."

Lee: "You don't hear bad feelings. People seem to have forgiven them.

"Steve Workman and JoeE (forced out partner of CEN) met up at the escalators at the porn conference a few weeks ago. Everybody watched. Steve extended his hand. JoeE didn't appreciate it."

Lee no longer operates her webmaster resource site. "I would really like to do something like yourself but it's too controversial. I made an attempt at it a year ago and it didn't sit well. An industry gossip site where people could speak their mind. The down side is that people can use it as a weapon even though that is not what it was meant for. So many resource sites have folded. Sponsors are starting their own message boards."

Luke: "Has Ron Levi changed his role with CE over the past year? I've heard he's less hands on."

Lee: "I've heard that. I doubt it. The operation is more streamlined. He has a new partner - Dave from Holio. Ron bought out his old partner Paul Lesser. It was amicable. Dave is the CEO of Ron's company and he does a radio show every Monday night on albumside.com. Dave and Ron are blowing up Cybererotica. It's now known as CECash."

Luke: "What do you do for Netpond?"

Lee: "Helping them with an alternative resource site for gays and lesbians."

On October 1st, 2002, it was one year since Lee Noga split from her wife of the past 16 years, Pat. Pat cheated on her. Lee now heals her pain through fishing and working for Ron Levi's Cybererotica.com (for past 18 months).

On 9/20/00, on the L-ke F-rd Live internet radio show, Luke and Lee interviewed Pat, Lee Noga's lesbian lover of the past 15 years.

Luke: "What's it been like moving on from a 16-year marriage?"

Lee: "That's been devastating. If it wasn't for Ron Levi reaching out and grabbing me by the bootstraps and giving me the time to sort through this, this might've made me do some stupid things. Ron gave me about a year's worth of space to find myself and encouraged me to get back in the saddle. I lost everything. My marriage was gone. My house was ruined in a flood. Pat walked off with all the money. It couldn't have been any worse. I have her mother here, who we're waiting to expire any day. A year later, I can honestly say that Ron saved my life. Pat's Mom is still with me.

"Pat signed the house over to me. It was demolished from the inside. State Farm is now in the 13th month of restoration. It should've been six weeks. I've been inconvenienced. Somebody told me to get out of the house and do something. I discovered fishing. For 16 years, I never did anything outside. I always wore pants. I kept my hair short and I kept it colored. Now, I go everywhere in shorts. I'm tanned. I have long hair. It's blonde by the sun. Fishing was the best therapy for me. Now I'm in the process to be a volunteer police officer. I'm undergoing that great big four-week investigation. That's something I can do one day a week on the weekends. I believe that will be a portal for me...

"I'm 46 years old. How do you start over? I see someone my age and I think they look old. You look at someone younger and think you don't want the problems. I've got to find other things to occupy myself. For 16 years, I've been a workaholic to make sure that I could provide for my family. When that changed, I had no guidance on who I was and what I should be doing. My purpose has changed. I fell apart. I lost my drive.

"Nobody would've done what Ron did. Nobody else would've paid you and not stressed you and let you sort it out. Now I'm healthy and strong. I had no life. I lived to provide for Pat's mother who lives at the house. She's supposed to have died two years ago. Now I'm putting myself first."

Luke: "How come the mother is staying with you?"

Lee: "Because I threatened her with a court order to block her from moving her. She [Pat] went from a beautiful home to a trailer park. Mom is in a stable situation here, with her own air filtration system in a mother-in-law apartment. To move her would kill her. So I said [to Pat], do me one more favor. Love yourself enough not to kill your mother and our marriage. So she [Pat] comes here every other day and I don't make myself available. One day I had a car and the next day she took it. She devastated me.

"One day you're married and next day you're not. I hope she's happy. I knew she's not. She ruined me. No therapist could've helped me.

"I still have a focus problem. He needs to kick me in the ass every now and again. I'm still detached. When I float away, Ron pulls me in. As time goes on, I shouldn't need as many boots in the butt.

"I don't have a family. So what do I do with my time? I decided to catch fish and give it to needy families in the church. I took my pain and a great excuse for destruction and used it to invest in others and make the world more positive. I've mellowed.

"9/11 kicked this industry in the ass. The nation was in shock and mourning. Guys aren't feeling sexual. Small business was hurt by 9/11. Many jobs were lost. Companies went bankrupt. Tourism and airlines cut back. The regular entertainment industry has plunged. All entertainment stock except Viacom have plunged.

Luke: "Are all your lawsuits settled?"

Lee: "No. Bonnie Murphy tapped me on the shoulder at Internext. You have to understand the history. She said she wanted to settle with me. As recent as today, she said she's Fedexing the next payment. She apologizes. She's remarried. She says she's grown up a lot. I filed the suit in 1999. I really believe she's turned over a new leaf. That was a sore spot with me."

Luke: "Who have you been fighting with on the boards?"

Lee: "Nobody will fight with me anymore. They backdown and rollover much too easy. I'm going to co-host a radio show with Aly from Python.

"You ought to interview Kevin Blatt. He's changed. He's given up drugs. He still doesn't hold on to a job longer than 90 days. He's gentler. He's feeling the squeeze like everyone else.

"Brad Shaw lost about 60 pounds. He talked Kimmy Kim into moving in with him in Texas. She'd said she'd never leave Arizona.

"Serge and the world are convinced that I am Confucy."

Luke: "I know Confucy and I know you and you aren't her."

Lee: "Tell Serge. I've got JR from Oprano with $5000 riding on a lie detector test that I suggested. We could make this a public thing at the next show. Put me on a lie detector test in public about whether I am Confucy. I have never met Confucy. I've been trading email with her for 15 months, like she's my sister.

"I got some attitude at Internext from people who think I'm Confucy. I love how she tells it like it is. Serge won't let it go. Everyone thinks she's a blond Oriental. She was in Orlando shark-fishing with her sister."

Luke: "I bet people, when I left last August, that I wouldn't be back in three months. I racked up about $10,000 in bets, many of them on Oprano. Not one person paid. It took me a year to come back."

Lee: "Serge's ban from Netpond was lifted. I don't go to Oprano because I get beat on. Serge has shaved his head and shaved his facial hair. Serge and Meat buried their hatchet in August."

Luke: "Is he happy with Sue aka Lady Law?"

Lee: "I dunno. He's a confirmed bachelor. I hope he is. I like Sue. That was suppposed to be a big secret and it got out at the Internext show. It's an odd combination."

Luke: "How would you evaluate the job Gary Kremen is doing with sex.com?"

Lee: "He's more focused. He's doing enough for him. Outsiders say he could do more with the site. Gary has found his niche. He's concerned about moral fabric. Right or wrong, he's going to do it his way. He's gone through some staff changes. This is what he wants.

"Gary was a panelist at the show in Chicago."

JustMrT writes: "Ask Lee Noga....if it isn't true that the adult websites are making almost all their money off of clueless internet newbies, and that the business will turn to sh-t as internet usage becomes more widespread and perverts learn that they can download millions of porno pics off usenet for free."

A Chat With Lee Noga
2003-02-05 10:41:25
Lee Noga was just banned from Netpond, formerly the most active porn webmaster board on the web, but now lagging behind GFY and pornojunkies.com.

Lee: "I think they're struggling. They've lost a lot of their posting race horses. They'll accept any action to get the eyeballs and I'm not going to build them out. I just walked away. They can run their mouth all they want."

Luke: "It seems that everyone posts on GFY."

Lee: "GFY is a rough board. I don't read it. People who can't handle GFY go to pornojunkies.com. Netpond put up a threaded board and I think they had paid moles in there to keep it jabbering, the Swords and the Carries. It's gotten tame. I think paying per posts (five cents a post) is a horrible business model."

Luke: "I stopped reading Netpond weeks ago and took it off my bookmarks because there just wasn't value there."

Lee: "Netpond editing posts is a new low. About altmasters, I've kept my silence but I will break that story.

"Adultbuzz.com, owned by Kaiser, asked me to write a column. I've done two. I'm working mainstream [with a former business partner]. I won't say what because I don't trust webmasters. Only one would have to pick up the phone and make a call to an agency [and make trouble for me].

"I promote CECash on the boards. The boards aren't the same anymore. People don't care anymore. Webmasters are worried about their bottom line [rather than posting].

"Serge's stock is tracing down. He can't carry a board anymore.

"People don't want to support trade shows anymore, or those mini-conferences state-by-state. They don't support the boards. Advertisers have cut back. It's tough all over. It's not fun anymore."

A medical matter kept Lee from attending the AVN show in Las Vegas last month. She's fine now.

Lee: "We've pioneered something new on the mainstream that's taking off. We're the only cats in town doing it. Any time I can be innovative, I'm happy.

"I'm working with my old partner from four years ago. We were known in the adult industry for coming up with new technological toys. We launched Monday and the reception was great. I've got my old company back and I'm doing what I do best.

"My passion to stay in adult is as a gatekeeper, not that this is where I have to make the money.

"Netpond is a good ol' boys club. The staff is all afraid of losing their jobs. Aga and Meat like to punish.

"There is more to this than they know. I will talk about it in my publication."